Luanda, June 23, 2025 (Lusa) — Angola’s minister for economic coordination acknowledged on Monday that the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) views certain clauses in the Lobito Corridor concession contract as matters for refinement, and the parties may “adjust” those clauses.
“Some of the clauses we have in the contract, the DFC believes could be different, and the partners are addressing them in this sense, and we expect them to remain on schedule,” Lima Massano said in statements to Lusa on the sidelines of the 17th US-Africa Business Summit, taking place in Luanda.
The Lobito Corridor is an infrastructure considered key to regional integration, crossing Angola from the port of Lobito on the west coast to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), also connecting to Zambia via a railway line.
The Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a US financial institution, is expected to finance this project with around $553 million (€454 million) for the modernisation of the infrastructure, and the consortium Lobito Atlantic Railway (formed by Mota-Engil, Trafigura and Vecturis) has received a 30-year concession.
The minister rejected a fundamental review of the concession contract, but acknowledged that “one or two clauses” could be adjusted to facilitate relations between operators and financiers.
“We may have one or two clauses in this contract that could be adjusted to facilitate relations between operators and their financiers,” he said.
“What we are trying to do is to give all the support that is requested of us, we are trying to improve the business environment so that investments can happen. This support goes to the private sector, and we channel it through our budget rather than to the Angolan government. Our role is to unblock situations and allow the environment to become increasingly favourable so that investments can be made quickly,” he added.
According to Lima Massano, the government has sought to address the concerns of its partners, particularly regarding additional guarantees.
“We are talking about private initiative, but the financiers say: ‘If things go differently, how can the state help, for example’,” he said, revealing that the DFC presented the latest requests and repairs, and the Angolan authorities responded last Wednesday.
The minister stressed that, despite reservations, relations with the United States are on a path of “consolidation” and that support for strategic projects, such as the Lobito Corridor, continues.
“What we hear from the US authorities is that it is an important project, it is a strategic project, and that support continues,” he stressed.
The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, raised the issue today, highlighting the need for greater travel freedom for citizens of African countries and for the United States to review its tariff policies, and Lima Massano also expressed support for these goals.
“It is not just Angola, it is the continent, and today we talked here about integration, etc. And of course, we are committed to ensuring that policies always support our ability to continue growing with the sense of strategic partnership that Africa seeks to build with the world and with the United States of America,” he stressed.
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